George Miller's Backstory for 1 Fury Road Detail Will Blow Mad Max Fans' Minds

Summary The War Rig's origin story, as revealed in a story of the same name from the Mad Max: Fury Road trade paperback, explains how each piece of the iconic battle vehicle came together, adding depth to fans' appreciation of the film.

Each part of the War Rig has its own tragic backstory, most notably the skull and the baby doll heads that feature prominently on the front of the Rig throughout the movie.

George Miller's long development of Fury Road's script led to a great deal of rich backstory that never made the film; the "War Rig" comic, taking its story from Miller's notes, is an incredible insight into the detailed world-building that the series' creator did during the production of the movie.

The War Rig is the centerpiece of Mad Max: Fury Road, the main vehicle the heroes utilize as they flee from the forces of Immortan Joe. Yet many fans may not realize that the War Rig has a backstory all of its own, first revealed in the trade paperback collecting the Fury Road comics published by DC/Vertigo.

In a story released exclusively in the Mad Max: Fury Road trade paperback, “The War Rig” details how the piece of the massive tanker came together. Though the story is short, it is packed with fascinating backstory for the film, as each of the eight pages that make up the story describes how pieces of the Rig came into Immortan Joe’s possession.

Each fragment of the Rig has a story all its own, including a man who tried to save his family by hiding them in a hidden compartment, and the disturbing story of how the Rig came to be lined with baby doll heads.

Related Mad Max: George Miller's Backstory for Fury Road's Nux Makes His Redemption Even Better One of the most celebrated aspects of Mad Mad: Fury Road is Nux's redemption arc; the comic prequel to the film makes the character even more tragic.

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The "Baby Donk" was badly damaged in another attack, so the chassis of the Fleetmaster was installed on top of the Tatra 815, to form the cab that steers the War Rig.

The story opens with Colonel Joe Moore – the man who would later become Immortan Joe –killing a quartermaster who escaped from military barracks with a Tatra 815, filled with munitions. This became the first piece of the War Rig, a massive transport that would take decades to build, the various pieces assembled together haphazardly. Fans of Fury Road will recall the secret compartment that Furiosa uses to hide Joe’s reluctant wives. The comic reveals that this compartment in the War Rig’s tanker was actually constructed by the original owner, who attempted to hide his family from violent marauders after the fall of civilization.

"The War Rig" (2015) Story: George Miller

Writer: Mark Sexton

Artists: Peter Pound

Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski

Letterer: Clem Robins

The owner dies while making a stop, which means his family is left to die in the hidden compartment, as they have no means of getting out without anyone there on the outside. The tanker is eventually found by Joe’s forces, who don’t discover the hidden compartment for years thereafter. Readers then learn that the twin engine that powers the War Rig was actually developed by two gear-head twins Jared and James Voeten, who manage to fight off various intruders before finally succumbing to Joe’s forces.

The fearsome engine is then combined with the chassis by the Donk, a mechanical genius recruited by Immortan Joe early on. The Donk served as Immortan Joe’s chief mechanic after he took the Citadel, a post he held until his death. The Donk crafted a souped-up vehicle out of a Chevy Fleetmaster which was dubbed the “Baby Donk,” which eventually became Joe’s favored vehicle due to its speed and power. The "Baby Donk" was badly damaged in another attack, so the chassis of the Fleetmaster was installed on top of the Tatra 815, to form the cab that steers the War Rig.

The Twisted Origin Of The War Rig’s Baby Doll Heads From Mad Max: Fury Road

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Perhaps most disturbingly, readers learn that the skull on the front of the rig belonged to a woman with a massive doll collection.

Another piece originally belonged to Annette Lehmann and Janine Kwong, two friends who decided to take a road trip in their VW Beetle right before the Fall. After the nuclear strikes, they attempted to survive in the wastelands, but ultimately succumbed to radiation poisoning. They were found many years later by a band of wandering War Pups, who assumed the two bodies in the Beetle must have been great heroes who fell in battle. The Beetle was later modified to be a gun emplacement on the War Rig, and the womens’ skulls were covered in pitch and added to Rig in memorium.

Perhaps most disturbingly, readers learn that the skull on the front of the rig belonged to a woman with a massive doll collection. Leanne Bart owned 532 dolls, which she kept in the basement of the old house she lived in all by herself. Leanne didn’t pay much attention to the outside world, so the initial nuclear strikes didn’t affect her day-to-day life at first. But when the water stopped working, Leanne eventually succumbed to dehydration, dying surrounded by her dolls.

Finding her long after she died, Joe’s son Rictus Erectus became quite taken with her doll collection, and so Leanne’s skull and the heads of her dolls were added to the Rig as decoration. The story also provides the detail that the young War Pups were responsible for crafting the totems and ornaments of Immortan Joe’s fleet, including the skull-faced steering wheels. They do this by toiling through trash and other rubble found in the Citadel, hoping to make something that will please their tyrannical leader.

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The War Rig stands out as one of the most iconic vehicles in cinematic history, a mean machine that is varied and complex enough to act as the staging ground for the bulk of Mad Max: Fury Road's action.

Considering that George Miller and his collaborators developed the Fury Road script for over fifteen years, they created a lot of backstory and material that never made the finished film. “These are legitimately authentic tales dreamed up by (George Miller) during the production of the film,” co-writer and Fury Road storyboard artist Mark Sexton explains in his introduction to the trade paperback. “All stories that flesh out these richly layered and fascinating people, and how they came to be what they are at the beginning of Fury Road.”

The War Rig was eventually given to Furiosa following her stint as the bodyguard of Immortan Joe’s wives. It is fascinating to see the origin of each piece of the War Rig in the comics, and even more interesting to consider that Joe inadvertently set the stage for his own demise after acquiring the various parts. Aside from all of that, the War Rig stands out as one of the most iconic vehicles in cinematic history, a mean machine that is varied and complex enough to act as the staging ground for the bulk of Mad Max: Fury Road's action.

Source: “Introduction” by Mark Sexton, Mad Max: Fury Road TPB